In January, the State Department signed contracts for an estimated $1,690,000 million for hotels for President Obama’s trip to India. Two of the contracts were for the New Delhi stay, and another two were for Agra, the location of the Taj Mahal. That latter leg of the trip was cancelled when President Obama decided to leave early to pay his respects to the recently deceased king of Saudi Arabia. The president stayed in New Delhi for two nights. He did not stay in Agra, but since his visit there was to be a day trip, the hotels reserved in that city were never intended for him in the first place.
The New Delhi hotels cost about $1.1 million: $800,000 for the ITC Maurya, and $300,000 for the Taj Palace Hotel. A maximum of 4,000 room nights were booked between the two.
